On May 9, the Manchester Area Historical Society launched its new fundraising campaign for the Kingsley-Jenter House, its headquarters at 302 E. Main Street. This fundraising is specifically focused on creating a repurposed and upgraded community meeting place, which can accommodate many needs in our community for small groups and events in a setting of Manchester area artifacts and displays.

The Society has received approval from the State of Michigan for a “Public Spaces Community Places” grant, wherein the State’s Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Michigan State Housing Development Authority will match funds we raise locally towards improving this public space.

We have set a $40,000 fundraising goal. If we meet the $40,000 goal by July 7, 2016, the State will MATCH our raised funds dollar-for-dollar, giving us an $80,000 budget! If we don’t reach our goal, the state gives us $0!

We need your help! We want to be sure and hit this goal by July 7. The State has set up the project through a crowd-funding approach, which allows credit card donations on-line, as well as check or cash donations made directly to the Historical Society to be credited to the campaign. Full details on the project and a project video are available at:

Be sure to watch the video which explains the project! Check in from time-to-time and watch our progress towards the goal.

Download our campaign flyer for more details!

What the money will do:

• Reroof the building
• Repair gutters, downspouts, fascia boards and soffits
• Repair plaster and repaint the main assembly room
• Purchase furnishings and fixtures for main assembly hall (chairs, tables, cabinets, lighting, projection equipment)
• Establish a galley/catering room for food service at meetings
• Create a public gallery and exhibit area
• Improve ADA accessibility
• Install new heating and cooling system for the gallery

MAHS has succeeded in our purchase of the former Borek-Jennings Funeral Home at the corner of Ann Arbor and Main Streets in downtown Manchester! We have worked for the past 10 months to reach agreement on a sale price and terms, and we are partnering with Ann Arbor State Bank on financing of the purchase. Closing on this purchase is set for December 2015.

This purchase will give us a highly-visible and central location for our headquarters, and improved and proper facilities for display and public access to our archives and artifacts. It will also be a good year-round meeting space for our members and community outreach activities. This project also supports our goal of drawing new generations of Manchester area residents into understanding, preserving and passing on our heritage.

Our promotion and fundraising efforts are entitled “Preserve the Corner.” We seek to preserve the legacy of John Hampden Kingsley, the Manchester entrepreneur and civic leader who built the home in 1904. We also honor the Jenter family, who aided our community’s families in their time of great need for many decades in this home. We believe that our Society’s mission and activities are a perfect way to repurpose this home for the community’s benefit.

The Preserve the Corner campaign includes a long-term plan for financing the rehabilitation/repurposing costs, operating and maintenance expenses, and pay down of the mortgage. Download the campaign flyer. We ask for your help through an immediate cash donation, or through a written pledge to be fulfilled over a given time. Our bank financing requires us to achieve a minimum level of $50,000 in cash donations, pledges and grant commitments by year-end. We are also currently applying for several grants. Please consider making an immediate donation, or a pledge, before the end of this year, by completing and submitting the contribution form.

We also ask for your help through contribution of your time and talents, as we move forward on furnishing, rehabbing and establishing regular operating hours of our new home. Your feedback about this project is both wanted and needed. Please contact the society through any of the means provided on the attachments, and help us achieve our goals of both preserving the home on this corner, and building upon Manchester’s heritage for future generations. Please share this fundraising information with others who may be interested in this project.

The Riverfolk Cultural Art Strings group has organized a series of concerts to be held at the MAHS Blacksmith Shop at 324 E. Main in Manchester on fourth Saturdays, beginning at 7:30 PM. Upcoming concerts are listed below. Tickets can be purchased on www.Eventbrite.com, or at the door.

The May meeting of the Manchester Area Historical Society is being held at Bethel United Church of Christ located at 10425 Bethel Church Road in Freedom Township on May 14, 2015 at 7:00 P.M.. Bethel UCC is celebrating the 175th anniversary of its founding this year.

We will be welcomed by Rev. David Bucholtz. We will tour Bethel's cemetery, sanctuary and church hall. There will be special presentations on Bethel's pipe organ and stained glass windows as well as a couple of 175 second sound bytes on Bethel's past. Following the tours and presentations, refreshments will be served!

We'll begin with an abbreviated business meeting. Then Derek Brereton of Adrian, MI, will give a presentation entitled, "Old Barns & Country Skills of Southeastern Michigan," followed by our annual Christmas carol sing. We may not be professional, but we have a lot of fun. Come, lend your voice and enthusiasm!

Oh, yes, and it's our annual cookie exchange, too. So if you have a special recipe from family or friends, bring bring a plate of cookies along. Punch and coffee will be provided, as well as plates and bags to gather the cookies you want to take home. All donations will be given to Manchester Family Services.

September 11, 2014 is the Annual Meeting and election of officers. The meeting will be at 7:30 PM at the Blacksmith Shop. Instead of a program for the September 11 meeting, there will be an open discussion of the need for more space to maintain the MAHS as a viable organization and how to obtain the space.

Thanks to our longtime friend and MAHS board member, Howard Parr, we will publish his two recent local history books, Farm Stories from Manchester, Michigan, and My Army Years 1942–1952 in installments.

As Howard puts it in his forward, his writing process was much like the process his Grandma Mattern used to make her patchwork quilts: "A block at a time was sewn together out of whatever pieces of cloth were available. When enough had been made, which might take years, the blocks were sewn into a quilt top. So this 'farm quilt top' finally has been completed, and represents far more than the first blocks about my memories of growing up on our farm."

The Farm Stories book's forward, acknowledgements and first chapter have been published today. We plan to publish a chapter a month, so keep coming back for more local history.

Thank you, Howard, for introducing us all to your own very personal view of our beloved Manchester area!